As a footnote to creativity vs tradition: Bede Griffiths and CS Lewis had a long correspondence, and in one, Fr. Bede criticized Lewis for his conservatism, ending: "I would say that growth of any kind, whether in nature, in culture or religion, consists in change in continuity. Without change there is not life, but without continuity there is disintegration. Everything (& every person) in this world has to change if it is to live, yet it (or he or she) has to preserve its identity." (from Beyond Darkness, a biography of Griffiths by Shirley du Boulay) This is best expressed by the Tao, the movement within a circle, but to Bede, it was better to picture this as a spiral (as the North American Indians often did) - a movement held together by a center, but moving outward (or inward) to something new. Thus creativity can enrich and be enriched by tradition, but only when it holds a center - the center. Iconoclasm for iconoclasm's sake is destructive, but pure adherence to tradition without accepting innovation is eventual death. And so, creativity when centered, that is, when it comes from The Source, is a spring rain, while creativity without a mooring is destructive. Something to think about in the age of technology and materialistic imperialism.
Now, related to the exposition of ghost stories - as well as to God's care of the lowly individual (I will relate these things at some other time) is this peculiar set of circumstances lived by my wife:
She was having a repeating and disturbing dream about her leg being amputated at the thigh, which went on for a few weeks. There was also an odd occurrence in the shower, where she touched a small mole on her thigh while washing and felt that she had touched a poisonous snake. In the same time period, she had to order her medications for a few ailments, but was unable to get through on line. When at last she could, it was too late - by one day, she had missed the deadline and would have to see the doctor to renew her prescription. She had no idea why the site had been down, but at that point, she had no choice. Once at the doctor's, she mentioned the small mole on her thigh. The doctor thought it was probably nothing but did a biopsy, just in case. The result that came back was startling: she had melanoma, a very fast-acting and deadly form of skin cancer. Her doctor assured her that they had caught it early and she should probably not worry, but when she saw the specialist, he thought otherwise and set her up for immediate surgery to remove the mole and nearby lymph nodes (where cancer is prone to migrate). Things went well: she has been 5 or so years without a recurrence. However, she was told that if she had waited the three months more for her regular check-up - that is, if the site to order her medicine had worked as it normally did - it was probable that the cancer would have spread, perhaps beyond the range of successful treatment. Saved by a dream and a machine gone mysteriously haywire.
As a footnote, we had a tremendously affectionate beagle at that time who we had gotten as a puppy almost exactly a year before. The day before the surgery, with our boy rushing to get ready for school, the dog was left outside for a few minutes by itself - not extraordinary as we live in the country and our house is over a hundred yards from the road. On calling the dog and not getting a response, I had no time, and so left to bring our son to school - and found the dog dead, run over, just beyond the driveway. The people we had bought the puppy from had several children, and they loved this puppy particularly - and so had named her "Angel."
More later, FK
Now, related to the exposition of ghost stories - as well as to God's care of the lowly individual (I will relate these things at some other time) is this peculiar set of circumstances lived by my wife:
She was having a repeating and disturbing dream about her leg being amputated at the thigh, which went on for a few weeks. There was also an odd occurrence in the shower, where she touched a small mole on her thigh while washing and felt that she had touched a poisonous snake. In the same time period, she had to order her medications for a few ailments, but was unable to get through on line. When at last she could, it was too late - by one day, she had missed the deadline and would have to see the doctor to renew her prescription. She had no idea why the site had been down, but at that point, she had no choice. Once at the doctor's, she mentioned the small mole on her thigh. The doctor thought it was probably nothing but did a biopsy, just in case. The result that came back was startling: she had melanoma, a very fast-acting and deadly form of skin cancer. Her doctor assured her that they had caught it early and she should probably not worry, but when she saw the specialist, he thought otherwise and set her up for immediate surgery to remove the mole and nearby lymph nodes (where cancer is prone to migrate). Things went well: she has been 5 or so years without a recurrence. However, she was told that if she had waited the three months more for her regular check-up - that is, if the site to order her medicine had worked as it normally did - it was probable that the cancer would have spread, perhaps beyond the range of successful treatment. Saved by a dream and a machine gone mysteriously haywire.
As a footnote, we had a tremendously affectionate beagle at that time who we had gotten as a puppy almost exactly a year before. The day before the surgery, with our boy rushing to get ready for school, the dog was left outside for a few minutes by itself - not extraordinary as we live in the country and our house is over a hundred yards from the road. On calling the dog and not getting a response, I had no time, and so left to bring our son to school - and found the dog dead, run over, just beyond the driveway. The people we had bought the puppy from had several children, and they loved this puppy particularly - and so had named her "Angel."
More later, FK
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